The regional Dairy Challenge places students on mixed-university teams of four or five individuals to analyze all aspects of a working dairy. Teams assessed the dairy’s facilities, nutrition, financials, reproduction, animal health and much more. Together, they collaborated on a 20-minute team presentation that detailed their observations and suggestions to a panel of judges and participating farm families. Farms evaluated in the competition included Ideal Dairy, Toolite Dairy and Welcome Stock Dairy. All teams participated in educational workshops and tours at King Brothers Dairy.

· Second place, Team 16: Chase Cashell, Penn State University; Kyah Hardy, University of New Hampshire; Shelley Nyentap, University of Guelph; Bryant Stuttle, Cornell University; and Katelyn Williams, University of Connecticut

The objective of the Dairy Challenge is to create a real-life situation that highlights the importance of teamwork and professionalism.

About Dairy Challenge NAIDC is an innovative event for students in dairy programs at North American post-secondary institutions. Its mission is to develop tomorrow’s dairy leaders and enhance progress of the dairy industry by providing education, communication and networking among students, producers, and agribusiness and university personnel. Over its 15-year national history, Dairy Challenge has helped prepare more than 5,000 students for careers as farm owners and managers, consultants, researchers, veterinarians or other dairy professionals. The next national event will be March 30- April 1, 2017 in Visalia, CA. Four regional events are held in late fall and winter; details are at www.dairychallenge.org.